


Anna

by neverfinishe



Series: Anna [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Cute Kids, Domestic, F/M, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, M/M, Mentions of Violence, Orphans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-13
Updated: 2014-07-13
Packaged: 2018-02-08 15:17:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1946034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverfinishe/pseuds/neverfinishe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve goes away on a mission and comes home with a toddler and a gun shot wound. Sam's not sure he should be surprised.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anna

**Author's Note:**

> a) i wanted this to be more or less ridiculously fluffy, so i didn't go into too much detail about the complications that this sort of trauma would have on a kid. it's hinted at pretty heavily, but i wanted to focus on the lighter parts. b) i imagine anna looking like this ( http://i62.tinypic.com/2a824xx.jpg ). c) i fully intend to continue writing sam, steve, & anna pieces. more than likely, they'll be small pieces.

“You can’t just ignore this.”

“That,” Fury emphasizes the word with a hard look, “Is not my problem.”

Steve clenches his teeth. His arms are crossed over his chest, and he looks like he’s trying to burn holes into the Director.

“What happens to her then?”

Fury looks at him like it’s the stupidest thing Steve has ever asked. “I don’t know,” he says the words slowly. He doesn’t know. It’s not his job. He doesn’t care. He has other, much more important matters to attend to.

“You don’t know? She’s a child, Nick!”

Fury taps his fingers against his desk, looking no less annoyed or any more concerned, “Then _you_ deal with it.”

Steve’s jaw is still tense. He’s clearly ready to continue arguing, but it evaporates the moment the words process in his mind. He’s not sure what he expected from Fury, but those words weren’t even close.

“What?”

“You deal with it.” Fury repeats. He sits back in his chair and crosses his arms.

*

Steve is standing in civilian clothes just outside of Sam’s door. He has a toddler on his side, and he still can’t figure out how to explain her existence. He forces himself to turn the handle and slip inside. He knows Sam’s home. He’d texted him before leaving HQ, but he isn’t sure where in the house Sam is or what he’s up to.

“Steve?” He hears from the kitchen.

He takes a deep breath before answering, “Yeah.”

Sam steps around the corner with a grin on his face. “And here I thought Fury was going to keep you there all-”

Steve sees the exact moment Sam spots the toddler. She’s half asleep against his shoulder. Her cheek is pressed against his collar, and her little fingers cling to his shirt. She’s surprisingly calm after everything that she’s been through in the last forty-eight hours.

“You’ve got an interesting growth there, Cap,” Sam says after a moment of staring. A smile spreads over his features. Admittedly, the sight of Steve with a kid sleeping on his shoulder is pretty cute.

“Yeah, must have been chemical exposure from my last mission,” Steve says lightly, relieved to see the smile. He’s not sure what reaction he expected. Sam’s great with people. He loves kids, but coming home with a child out of the blue is probably a little shocking.

Sam rolls his eyes. He steps closer, but he seems to think twice about reaching out. “What exactly was your last mission?” He asks, clearly understanding that the child is somehow a related to whatever Steve had been up to.

“That’s a long story. Let’s just say it involved some bad men, and those bad men are responsible for the-” he pauses and checks to make sure the little girl is still unconscious before he continues, “For the death of her mother.”

Sam’s smile falls, but he nods. He doesn’t have to ask about the father. She wouldn’t be here if she had someone else. “So, babysitting, or did we just adopt a toddler?”

“I’m... not sure,” Steve answers honestly. “Fury was going to dump her on someone else’s lap to figure out, and...” He couldn’t let something happen to her. He’d taken a bullet to the arm for her. He knows he’s lucky he hadn’t been more seriously injured, but he also knows that he should be fine soon enough. It’s well worth it.

“Guess we need some supplies, huh?” Sam’s grinning again, evidently unphased by the possibilities. He has a few dozen questions bouncing around in his head, but he can see the exhaustion in Steve’s eyes. It’s obvious he needs sleep as badly as the little one.

“Guess so,” Steve offers a smile in return.

“What’s her name?”

“Anna.”

Steve shifts Anna again, wincing slightly when he brings his other arm up to help keep her steady as he does.

Sam groans, “Can’t go on even one mission without getting injured, can you?” He asks. He holds his arms out to take the girl. Steve hesitates for a moment, but he knows Sam will keep her safe. He lets Sam take Anna from him and suddenly feels heavier despite the weight lifted from his side.

“You go get showered, okay? We’ll be right behind you,” Sam promises. Anna wakes for a moment, but she’s too groggy to do much more than turn her head and whine. She buries her face against Sam’s chest, which makes the man smile even wider. She’s definitely the cutest kid ever.

Steve nods. He doesn’t move initially, but he finally forces himself to put one foot in front of the other and head for the bedroom.

*

Steve steps out of the bathroom with a pair of sweats hugging his hips. He can hear the television, but he doesn’t pay it much attention. His eyes land on Sam and Anna, and he can’t help but smile. The situation is still a little bizarre. It’s not exactly his typical mission, but he’s more than happy to give her somewhere safe and stable until something more suitable can be found.

“Need any help with that?” Sam asks, nodding to the bandage wrapped around Steve’s arm.

“No, it’s fine,” Steve says honestly and moves over to the bed. He’s careful as he gets on. He doesn’t want to wake Anna. Her little fists are both clenching handfuls of Sam’s shirt.

“Fine, but I’m getting a look at it tomorrow,” Sam warns. He brushes his fingers over Anna’s curls.

“If you insist.” It’s unnecessary. They both know damn well that Sam will insist.

Steve leans back against the pillows. He reaches to brush his fingers against Anna's arm gently. Her dark skin is marred with scratches, but he knows it could have been worse. He tries not to dwell on it much. It makes his stomach twist thinking she may have died because he had failed to protect her. It's partly his fault that her mother is gone; he won't let the same thing happen to her.

"Stop thinking so much and get some sleep," Sam says softly, breaking through Steve's thoughts. He has one hand splayed over Anna's little back. His free hand takes Steve's and squeezes gently.

"I- yeah," Steve says softly. He knows Sam doesn't really expect him to push away everything he's just gone through. Sam would listen if he needed to talk, but he doesn't. He needs to sleep, so he can wake up and figure out what exactly he plans to do with a toddler.

"If you really want something to think about, you can think about the fact that you're going to have to tell Bucky at some point."

Steve groans and refrains from punching him in the arm. "You're the worst," he accuses.

Sam just grins widely. He ruffles Steve's hair and tells him he loves him.

"Love you too," Steve says and closes his eyes.

*

Steve wakes up some hours later to an empty room. He tries to ignore the sudden burst of panic. "Sam?" He calls softly as he pushes himself. He peaks into the bathroom, but he doesn't find Sam there. He exits the bedroom and heads for the living room. He stops when he hears a soft sound, a little giggle, and he can't help but smile.

"You silly!" Anna says between giggles.

Steve stops in the door way, watching Sam make faces at the toddler. There's a little clip in her hair, keeping her curls from obscuring her face. Steve raises a slight eyebrow. He doesn't think Sam's actually left the house yet.

"You're silly," Sam argues. He looks up when he hears Steve huff a small sound of amusement. "Ah, there he is."

Anna's head turns up. She smiles up at him. Steve feels his heart melt a little. She looks so much happier and calmer. She had been in tears when SHIELD had picked them up. He'd felt bad for leaving her, but medical needed to make sure she didn't have any severe injuries. He'd been swept away by one of Fury’s men, and he hadn't gotten back to her until he and Fury had their conversation.

"Well, I think you're both silly," Steve says. He steps into the kitchen, ruffles Anna's hair, and kisses Sam's cheek. He feels entirely comfortable with their new dynamic, and he's not quite sure how he feels about that.

"Sammy make pancakes," Anna announces, pointing towards the pile of pancakes.

"Made," Steve corrects softly. He smiles as he follows the line of her finger to the pancakes.

The morning is far less calm after breakfast. They run around the living room a bit, running some of the energy out of Anna. She's an exhausted mess of limbs and dramatics on the floor, playing up how tired she is, which results in a mid-morning nap for her and Sam. Apparently they had woken up at eight o'clock. Steve hadn't woken up until eleven, to his surprise.

He sets his focus on Google while Sam and Anna nap on the couch. The radio plays softly in the background, allowing Steve to get caught up in his own thoughts.

*

Sam wakes up first, and he and Steve talk while Anna continues to sleep. They both agree to wake her up in another twenty minutes. Sam tells him about the parts of the morning Steve had missed.

Anna had woken up from a nightmare, and it had taken some effort to get her to trust him enough to take her to the kitchen. He hadn’t wanted to wake Steve. He’d clearly needed the sleep. With some coaxing, he got her to open up a bit more. She warmed up quickly enough, which had actually surprised Sam some given her initial reaction to him upon waking.

Steve tells him of his first meeting with Anna and her mother. Anna had been talkative and outgoing, curious about him. That meeting was perhaps the only reason she had trusted him enough in the fight and on the trip back to HQ.

Steve’s not surprised when Sam warns him that they are in for a bumpy ride.

*

The afternoon doesn’t go nearly as smooth. Anna is eating her sandwich when she looks at Steve and asks, “Where’s mommy?”

Steve’s stomach twists, and he struggles to find an answer. He doesn’t know how to tell her that mommy is gone. He’s not even sure that he should. She’s so young, but he knows lying isn’t a great alternative. “Mommy had to go away for awhile, but she loves you very much,” he says after a long moment of silence. All he gets in reply is a soft ‘oh’.

Sam does his best to cheer Anna up with an assortment of pens, each a different color.

Steve adds ‘crayons’ to the long list of things they need to buy.

*

They go to sleep early. Steve’s still worn enough from the long mission to call it an early night. Sam had gone out to pick up a few things for Anna while Steve had taken over drawing with her. That had quickly turned into Steve drawing every request that Anna could possibly imagine.

One of the things Sam had picked up was a toddler bed. Nothing particularly fancy. Easy enough to put together, and completely pointless. She refuses to sleep on her own, not that either of them really mind.

Steve’s only concern is potentially crushing her, but he knows Sam sleeps completely still. Anna sleeps on his chest for that reason, and Steve is able to go to sleep with that reassurance.

*

_There’s gunshots and yelling all around him. Some of it he can recognize as orders. He even understands a few words, but there are far too many sounds that are of anguish. He has to focus._

_The mission has gone south. He doesn’t know where or why it went wrong; he just knows that it has. He’d recognized the moment muscles had tensed and hands had twitched for guns. He just hadn’t recognized it in time to diffuse the situation properly or even call for back up._

_Now, he’s trying his best to take the threat out of the equation and remove innocent lives from the middle of a battlefield. He hears a little, high-pitched scream at the same time his mind catches a flash of curls. His heart stops. A bullet slams into the wall all of six inches from the girl’s head. He recognizes her immediately. He’d met her and her mother earlier. She was so sweet and curious._

_He pushes that away, forcing himself forward. He doesn’t even recognize that the body on the ground, one of a half dozen, is that of the girl’s mother. All he thinks is that he needs to get to her. He just needs to-_

_Another scream,_ and he’s ripped from the memories by the very real scream that fills the air. It’s followed quickly with sobbing. Sam bolts upright. His arms encircle Anna when she shifts, nearly falling off of him in the quick movements.

Sam’s quick. He’s brushing fingers through her hair as carefully as possible, whispering soft reassurances to her. Steve reaches out to touch her arm, tries not to let it bother him when she jerks away slightly. She’s sobbing hard, and he’s scared she might hyperventilate.

“Anna,” he calls softly, “Anna, it’s okay.” It isn’t.

Anna’s wide brown eyes look from Sam to Steve. She looks like she’s only just recognizing her surroundings. She tries to stop, but another sob hits her. Steve rubs her back while Sam continues to card his fingers through her hair. When she calms down enough, they lie down together again. Steve wraps his arms around her. She’s between them, with their bodies serving as a promise of protection against the evils of the world.

“We have you,” Steve promises. He wants to tell her he will never let anything happen to her again. He’s not sure quite what she remembers of the ‘incident’ that took her mother. She seems to have spaces in her memory. That’s what SHIELD’s psychologist had told him after he announced that he was taking Anna home, but she can’t be missing it all if she can still have nightmares.

He offers to talk about her dream, but she doesn’t want to. She just sniffles and shakes her head, so Steve offers to tell her a story about Sam and his most recent mission together. It’s full of adventure, really, and the story might sound exaggerated, but it isn’t. It lulls her back to sleep, much to his relief.

Steve looks up at Sam to see him smiling. He kisses Steve gently. “It’ll be okay,” he says, and it’s exactly what Steve needs to hear.

*

Steve gets a message the next morning telling him that he’s been put on leave for an indefinite amount of time. It’s the first time that he’s seen that message that he’s been happy about it and not immediately preparing to go argue the decision. He lets Sam handle the breakfast making while he tells Anna another story. This one is about an adventure that he had with Bucky as a child. He draws out a few scenes for her as he talks. She doesn’t believe him when he says he had been very small at one point. He just laughs softly.

Sam sets bacon, biscuits, and eggs out. Anna picks at it a bit, but she eats a good amount before pushing her plate away and looking at the pictures again. “Where’s he?” She asks, tapping Bucky’s face on one of the drawings.

“He’s-” Steve doesn’t honestly know. He hadn’t been able to check in with his best friend while on his mission, and he hasn’t really checked in with anyone - other than Sam - since returning. “He’s with another friend of our’s,” Natasha. It’s not a bad bet.

Anna seems to accept that answer. She announces that she wants to meet him, and Steve can’t help but beam a little at that. He’s not even sure why. She seems to light right back up to her hyper, talkative, and curious self. The energy is contagious.

*

They fall into a schedule after that. Steve wakes up first. Anna’s a close second, and finally Sam. Anna frequently wakes from nightmares, so Steve tells her a story or plays with her to calm her down. A few times, he can get her to tell him about the nightmares. Once she even tells him a nightmare where she saw mommy fall and saw red. That day he and Sam took her to the park.

Sam always makes breakfast, while Anna and Steve work on letters. Steve doesn’t push her too hard, but he thinks it’s a good start. It also gives her something to do, that she can work on bettering herself at. Sometimes Anna demands a story instead, and he draws illustrations. She draws along with him now, showing him the sorts of things she imagines.

The afternoon is spent running around the house or going to the park, spending off energy for nap time. At night, they both wake to comfort her.

She asks about her mother again, but she hasn’t asked since.

It’s only been a few days, but it seems like it’s been the norm for months. Steve still has to tell Bucky... and Natasha, Tony, and everyone else for that matter. She has food, clothes, and an assortment of toys now. Every day that passes makes it harder to think that this might not be permanent.

He refuses to think too hard on it. He’d rather enjoy the way Anna giggles when Sam plays airplane with her, zooming her around the room easily. Or the look of concentration on her face, with her little tongue poked out as she draws a scruffier looking Bucky (if he were a stick figure). Or the way Sam looks content with a book in one hand and the other resting on Anna’s back as she takes an unplanned nap on his chest.

It might be selfish, but he doesn’t want to give any of that up.


End file.
